Good riddance to bad rubbish.

It seems like a dream, but it's real: Tom DeLay is quitting the race for Congress and changing his residence to Alexandria, VA in order to trigger a special election for his seat. That appears the only way to utilize arcane Texas election laws to the GOP's advantage.

"Even though I thought I could win, it was a little too risky," DeLay said.

How noble. How gallant.

Kuffner summarizes and links extensively so I don't have to. Sugar Land mayor David Wallace has all but announced for the coming special.

There'll be more to say about this later; for now, that DeLay has chosen to suddenly cut and run speaks volumes about the true character of this so-called Christian. He's been plotting this withdrawal for quite some time now, obviously, and took this action not just to try to keep his seat Republican but to have a (typically heavy) hand in anointing his successor. Apparently he had no use for those who dared challenge him in the primary less than thirty days ago.

La Cucaracha Grande is nothing if not a master manipulator. He will no doubt transition seamlessly into a lucrative career lobbying Congress on behalf of various corporate and Christian causes, losing none of his influence while quintupling his income.

And he may accomplish his goal of staunching the GOP bleeding and lessening the November losses in the House -- beginning at home with TX-22 -- but that fate now lies more with Democratic efforts that it did yesterday.

Go back to work, people.